Fact-checked · Up to date · Official sources
If you own property in Greece and live abroad, you pay the annual property tax (ENFIA) and a small municipal duty on the electricity bill, and you keep the property return (E9) up to date. If you earn rent in Greece, you also file a Greek income tax return and pay tax on a scale from 15% to 45%. Capital gains tax on sales by individuals is suspended to 31 December 2026.
Last verified: 28 October 2026Owning a home in Greece from abroad means one annual tax, one municipal duty and one yearly return to keep current. Income tax, transfer tax and inheritance tax arise only when something happens: you let, buy, sell, inherit or receive a gift.
| Tax | Who pays | Rate | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENFIA | Anyone holding a property right in Greece on 1 January, wherever they live | Set per property by location, area, age and other features; extra charges on larger total holdings | Assessment posted on myAADE; for 2026, 12 monthly instalments from 31 March 2026 |
| E9 property return | Every owner (a return, not a tax) | None | By 31 January of the year after a purchase, inheritance or change |
| Municipal property duty (TAP) | The owner on 1 January; a tenant who holds the electricity account pays it and deducts it from the rent | 0.25 to 0.35 per thousand of the property’s value, set by each municipality | In instalments on the electricity bills |
| Income tax on rent | Owners who receive rent from Greek property | 15% up to €12,000, 25% to €24,000, 35% to €36,000, 45% above | Annual income tax return (E1, with form E2 for leases) |
| Transfer tax | The buyer | 3% plus 3% municipal surcharge on the tax = 3.09% | Before the notary signs the deed |
| Proposed 15% transfer tax | Individuals who are non-EU/EEA tax residents, buying homes | 15% (bill tabled in Parliament on 3 November 2026, not yet law) | Final contracts from 1 July 2027, if passed |
| Capital gains tax | Individual sellers | Suspended | Suspended to 31 December 2026 |
| Inheritance and gift tax | Heirs and recipients of Greek property, wherever they live | By heir category; see our guide | On inheritance or gift |
Each line is explained below, with the law or AADE source behind it. AADE is the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, the Greek tax authority, and myAADE (myaade.gov.gr) is its online portal.
Your Greek tax position depends on tax residence, not on citizenship or a Greek passport. A Greek citizen living in Melbourne is usually a non-resident for Greek tax; a foreigner living in Athens can be a resident.
Under Article 4 of the Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013), an individual is a Greek tax resident if Greece is their permanent or main residence, their usual abode, or the centre of their vital interests, meaning their personal and economic ties. Separately, a person present in Greece for more than 183 days in total within any 12-month period is a tax resident from the first day of presence. That 183-day rule does not apply to stays solely for tourism, medical treatment or similar private reasons that do not exceed 365 days.
Non-residents are taxed in Greece only on income that arises in Greece, under Article 3 of the Code. Rent from a property located in Greece is Greek-source income (Article 5). Owning the property itself is not income.
ENFIA (Ενιαίος Φόρος Ιδιοκτησίας Ακινήτων) is owed by anyone who holds a property right in Greece on 1 January of each year, whatever their residence or nationality. Owners abroad pay it on the same basis as residents.
AADE’s guide for non-residents says ENFIA is calculated “annually for the properties existing in Greece on January 1st of each year”, using the data in the owner’s E9 return. A buyer who completes in June receives no bill for that year; the first bill comes the following year.
For individuals, ENFIA is a main tax on each property, based on its zone price, area, age, floor and other features. Owners with larger total holdings pay additional charges. Our ENFIA guide for owners sets out the bands and the reduction for insured homes.
No paper bill is posted abroad. AADE’s release says owners find the assessment on myAADE under Applications › Popular applications › E9/ENFIA declaration, and in the myWallet section of the myAADEapp. You need a Greek tax number (AFM) and TAXISnet login details; see our AFM guide.
The E9 (δήλωση στοιχείων ακινήτων) lists every property you own and is the basis of your ENFIA bill. After a purchase, inheritance or any change, it must be updated by 31 January of the following year.
Law 5313/2026, Article 128, sets this deadline in the Property Tax Code (Law 5219/2025, Article 2). For an inheritance where the period to renounce has not ended by 31 January, the deadline is the last working day of the month after that period ends. The Minister of National Economy and Finance can extend these deadlines by decision.
How transfers filed through AADE’s myPROPERTY service feed into the E9 is covered in our report on the automatic KAEK in the E9. For homes passed on by inheritance, see inherited property in Greece.
Only if you have Greek-source income. AADE’s guide for non-residents says they file an income tax return “only if they receive real Greek-sourced income”. Owning a property that you do not let is not, by itself, such income.
Rent is the usual trigger. A non-resident who lets a Greek property files the annual income tax return (form E1) and lists each lease on form E2, according to AADE’s long-term lease guide.
Greek residents can be taxed on presumed income based on their living costs, such as owning a home or a car. AADE states that non-residents are not subject to minimum tax on presumed income based on living costs. They can face minimum tax on presumed income linked to buying assets, such as a property, only if they also earn real income in Greece (Article 33 of the Income Tax Code).
Rent from Greek property is taxed in Greece wherever the owner lives. From tax year 2026 it is taxed on its own scale of 15%, 25%, 35% and 45%, separately from any other income.
Law 5246/2025 (Government Gazette A’ 198/11.11.2025), Article 8, rewrote the scale in Article 40(4) of the Income Tax Code. Article 47(3) of the same law applies it to income from tax year 2026.
| Annual rental income (€) | Rate from tax year 2026 |
|---|---|
| 0 – 12,000 | 15% |
| 12,000.01 – 24,000 | 25% |
| 24,000.01 – 36,000 | 35% |
| Above 36,000 | 45% |
Each slice is taxed at its own rate. Individual landlords deduct 5% for repairs, maintenance, renovation and running costs (Article 39(3)(a) of the Income Tax Code). The rule that rent must be paid into the landlord’s bank account declared to AADE, or the 5% deduction is lost (Article 39(5), added by Article 210 of Law 5222/2025), starts on 1 July 2027 after AADE decision A.1187/2026 (Government Gazette B’ 5590/17.09.2026) postponed it.
Every long-term lease is declared on AADE’s online lease platform by the end of the month after the lease starts or is amended, and the income goes on forms E1 and E2. Worked examples and the empty-home exemption are in our guide to rental income tax for owners abroad; current asking rents are on rent in Athens.
For an individual who lets up to two properties short term, the income is property income on the same 15–45% scale. From three properties, it becomes business income and 13% VAT applies to all of them.
These lines come from AADE’s questions and answers on short-term rentals. Every short-term let needs a property registry number (ΑΜΑ, Αριθμός Μητρώου Ακινήτου) shown on every listing and advert. AADE also says anyone who earns rent from a Greek property, including foreign persons, needs a Greek AFM. A climate resilience fee is charged per night of stay; it applies only to short-term lets and carries no VAT.
Registration rules, including the freeze on new registrations in central Athens, are covered in our short-term rental rules guide and managing property from abroad.
TAP (Τέλος Ακίνητης Περιουσίας) is a small municipal duty of 0.25 to 0.35 per thousand of the property’s value, collected through the electricity bill.
Article 24 of Law 2130/1993 sets it. Each municipal council fixes one rate for its area within that range. The value is worked out from the official zone price and an age coefficient. The duty is owed by the owner on 1 January (or the holder of a usufruct), and for properties with an electricity meter it is spread over the electricity bills. If the electricity account is in a tenant’s name, the tenant pays it and deducts it from the rent.
At the top rate of 0.35 per thousand, every €100,000 of TAP value means €35 a year.
On a resale, the buyer pays transfer tax of 3% of the taxable value plus a 3% municipal surcharge on that tax, or 3.09% in total.
AADE’s page on transfer tax (ΦΜΑ) confirms the 3% rate, the 3% surcharge and that the buyer pays. It also describes a first-home exemption that covers Greeks, ethnic Greeks from Albania, Turkey and the former Soviet Union, and EU/EEA citizens, among others, on condition that the buyer lives permanently in Greece or settles there within two years of the purchase. The full cost list, including notary and Cadastre fees, is in the cost of buying property in Greece and our buying cost calculator.
Status: a bill tabled in Parliament on 3 November 2026, not yet law. The Ministry of National Economy and Finance put the tax bill to public consultation from 18 October to 1 November 2026 and tabled it in the Hellenic Parliament on 3 November 2026. Its Article 16 would set transfer tax at 15% of the taxable value on homes bought by individuals who, when the tax becomes due, are non-EU/EEA tax residents. It does not apply to buyers who qualify for the first-home exemption described above (Article 42 of the Property Tax Code). Under Article 52(8) of the bill, this applies to final contracts signed from 1 July 2027.
The test is tax residence, not citizenship. A Greek citizen who is a tax resident of the US, Canada, Australia or the UK and does not qualify for the first-home exemption would fall within the bill’s wording; a Greek-Australian who is a tax resident of Greece or another EU state would not. The text can still change in Parliament. See our report on the bill and buying from abroad.
An individual who sells Greek property in 2026 pays no capital gains tax, because Article 41 of the Income Tax Code is suspended until 31 December 2026 under Article 72 of the same Code, as extended by Law 5162/2024 (Article 90).
The government’s housing policy portal confirms the suspension to 31 December 2026, nationwide and with no income or age criteria. Article 13 of the bill described above, tabled in Parliament on 3 November 2026, would extend it to 31 December 2027; that extension is not yet law. Our capital gains guide explains how the gain would be calculated if the suspension ended.
Any tax in your country of residence on the sale is a separate matter that Greek rules do not settle. Confirm how this applies to you with a Greek lawyer or accountant.
Greek inheritance and gift tax applies to all property in Greece, wherever the deceased, the heirs or the recipients live. Rates and tax-free amounts depend on the heir’s relationship to the deceased.
Our guide to inheritance and gift tax for owners abroad sets out the heir categories, rates and filing deadlines, and the inheritance law reform covers the civil-law changes. For the practical steps after a death in the family, see inherited property in Greece. After inheriting, the property must also be entered in your E9 (see above).
No. Under Article 8 of the Tax Procedure Code (Law 5104/2024), a taxpayer who is a tax resident abroad “may” appoint a Greek tax resident as tax representative. The law draws no line between EU and non-EU residents.
AADE decision A.1069/2024 sets the procedure. It states that the appointment is optional if you agree that official documents go to the contact details you have declared to AADE: your full foreign address, your foreign tax identification number and an email address. The representative handles formal obligations and receives correspondence, but is not liable for your tax.
A representative, accountant or manager can still be practical when you cannot follow myAADE yourself. See managing property from abroad.
Greece has double tax treaties with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, among others. There is no income tax treaty between Greece and Australia.
Where a treaty applies, Greek-source income such as rent is taxed according to that treaty, and AADE asks for a tax residence certificate from your country of residence before applying it. Treaty texts are published by AADE.
| Country | Treaty with Greece | Where to read it |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Double tax treaty | IRS, AADE |
| Canada | Double tax treaty | AADE |
| United Kingdom | Double tax treaty | GOV.UK, AADE |
| Germany | Double tax treaty | AADE |
| Australia | No income tax treaty; only an airline profits agreement (1977) | Australian Treasury |
How your home country taxes Greek rent or a Greek sale, and whether it gives credit for Greek tax, depends on its own rules and the treaty. Confirm how this applies to you with a Greek lawyer or accountant and an adviser in your country of residence.
The yearly obligations below are listed in the order they usually arise.
Yes. ENFIA is owed by anyone who holds a property right in Greece on 1 January, whatever their residence or nationality. The bill is posted on myAADE, not sent by post, so you need a Greek tax number (AFM) and TAXISnet login details, or someone in Greece who can access them.
Only if you receive Greek-source income, such as rent. AADE’s guide for non-residents says they file only if they have real Greek-source income. You must still keep your E9 property return up to date, by 31 January after any purchase, inheritance or change.
Rent from Greek property is taxed in Greece wherever you live, from tax year 2026 at 15% up to €12,000, 25% to €24,000, 35% to €36,000 and 45% above. Greece and Australia have no income tax treaty, so Greek rules apply without treaty relief. How Australia treats the income is a matter for Australian rules.
No. Under Article 8 of Law 5104/2024, a tax resident abroad may appoint one, but is not obliged to. AADE decision A.1069/2024 makes it optional if you declare your foreign address, foreign tax number and email so that official documents can reach you.
Not if you sell as an individual by 31 December 2026: the tax is suspended to that date under Law 5162/2024. A bill tabled in Parliament on 3 November 2026 would extend the suspension to 31 December 2027; it is not yet law. Tax in your country of residence is a separate matter.
Only if a bill tabled in Parliament on 3 November 2026 is passed as written; it is not yet law. It would apply 15% to homes bought by individuals who are non-EU/EEA tax residents, on final contracts from 1 July 2027, except buyers who qualify for the first-home exemption in Article 42 of the Property Tax Code. The test is tax residence, not citizenship, so a Greek citizen who is a US tax resident and does not qualify for that exemption would be covered. Today the rate is 3.09%.
